THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
January 24, 2023 at 18:02 JST
Investigators examine the area near a burglary-assault case in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward on Dec. 5, 2022. (Provided by a witness)
Police arrested two more suspected members of a violent gang that burglarized a house in Tokyo in December and may be connected to a deadly home invasion also in the capital this month.
The arrests announced on Jan. 24 raised the number of suspects in custody to four over the burglary-assault that occurred on Dec. 5 in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward.
Masaya Yamada, 22, a resident of Saitama’s Kita Ward, and Shoji Hasegawa, 26, who lives in Tokyo’s Koto Ward, are accused of robbery and inflicting injuries, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Yamada has remained silent, while Hasegawa has denied the allegations, police said.
The two suspects, both unemployed, are believed to have been part of a seven-member group, including a driver, that targeted a three-story house in Nakano Ward around 10:50 a.m. on Dec. 5.
After the group drove to the house in a rental car, two members wearing courier uniforms rang the doorbell.
When the male resident opened the door, the two barged in and assaulted him. Four others, except the driver, then stormed into the house, police said.
After forcing the man to reveal the location of cash in the home, the robbers took about 30 million yen ($230,000) from his closet and fled the scene, according to police.
However, one member of the group, Masahiro Wano, 34, who was carrying around 10 million yen in cash, failed to escape after apparently dropping money near the house, police said.
He was arrested and later indicted.
On Jan. 20, police received a call about a suspicious rental car in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward. They found the car and questioned a man standing next to it.
He was identified as Rikuto Nagata, 21, and he was arrested the following day in connection with the Nakano burglary.
A cellphone seized from the rental car contained messages that mentioned plans for a robbery in Komae city in western Tokyo.
Kinuyo Oshio, 90, was found bound, beaten and dead at her house in Komae on Jan. 19. The home had been ransacked.
The rental vehicle found in Adachi Ward matched the description of a car seen driving around the Komae crime scene.
Police suspect the group has committed violent robberies across the country.
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January 23, 2023
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January 22, 2023
Job site link to Komae murder, string of crimes in Kanto region
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Woman, 90, killed in home robbery in western Tokyo
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